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The risk of Nielsen's vacant position

ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA - APRIL 08: Outgoing Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen walks out of her home to speak to the media on April 08, 2019 in Alexandria, Virginia. President Trump announced the departure of Nielsen on Twitter after the two met at the White House on Sunday. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

The secretary of the Department of Homeland Security delivered her letter of resignation last Sunday after the request of President Trump, who has expressed frustration at the weak implementation of his policies at the border.

Donald Trump has turned his presidency into the echo of his television program The Apprentice, remembered by the famous phrase "you're fired," one that is repeated in the White House with worrying regularity.

The last member of his cabinet to run this fate was the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen, who had to deliver her resignation letter on Sunday at the request of the president.

"I have determined that it is the right time for me to step aside," Nielsen said in her resignation letter. "I hope that the next secretary will have the support of Congress and the courts in fixing the laws which have impeded our ability to fully secure America’s borders and which have contributed to discord in our nation's discourse."

The risk we run now is that Nielsen's wish may come true, in the best Trump style.

Only last week, the president withdrew his nominee to head the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Ronald D. Vitiello, on the grounds that it would not be the right fit to his "tougher direction" project in the immigration issue.

According to the New York Times, people close to Trump's decision said the president is looking for someone who "is in favor of closing the border."

Nielsen’s resignation was framed in a string of presidential comments through Twitter in which he reiterated his campaign that "the country is full" and that there should be a halt to undocumented immigration on the border.

But if we look back in retrospect, under Nielsen's leadership, the Department of Homeland Security not only implemented the controversial Zero Tolerance policy - which resulted in the separation of thousands of immigrant families and the saturation of detention centers - but sheltered the President's National Emergency statement that is still ongoing.

The concern over who will be chosen to replace Nielsen has particularly put the Democratic leadership at the edge of the seat.

"When even the most radical voices in the administration aren’t radical enough for President Trump, you know he’s completely lost touch with the American people," said Senate minority leader Charles E. Schumer (DN.N. .Y.) in a statement.

Meanwhile, Trump would be considering Ken Cuccinelli II, former Virginia attorney general, to fill the position of secretary in the Department, the Washington Post reported.

For James Hohmann, the dismissal of Nielsen demonstrates again that Trump prefers to "surround himself with men" inside such a turbulent administration in terms of hiring personnel.

In his Daily 202 for the Post, Hohmann recounts that within the presidential cabinet there are only three women and fifteen men left. They are Gina Haspel (Director of the CIA), Betsy DeVos (Secretary of Education) and Elaine Chao (Secretary of Transportation).